New Garmin Announcements for July 2015 – cause for concern?

It’s getting slightly ridiculous (in a nice way). Garmin seem to be announcing new products and/or new developments every month. July is no exception.

Last month we had the baby Edges now we have a proper link up with Strava, SMART bike lighting and a super new Edge 520.

This must be exciting times for Garmin employees, shareholders and other stakeholders.

The competition must be somewhat worried.

Here are some thoughts on alternatives to Garmin products. Sometimes it was hard to make a suggestion!

Generally this must be good for the market because, in terms of innovation, Garmin are certainly NOT resting on their laurels.

In terms of competition then what is going to happen? If you buy a cycling computer would you seriously consider a non-Garmin alternative? Running watches, smart watches/bands then, yes, there is competition there – I wonder how many of them will still be there in 5 years time?

Clearly the competition need to up their game. Whilst most do not have the financial muscle that Garmin has they can focus on serving their niches/segments well. They need to innovate (easier said than done) and they need to do something different with their marketing. Same-old, same-old is patently NOT working.

Come on Mr Polar, Mr Suunto, Mr tomTom, Mr Epson and Mr adidas – sort it out!

Mssrs Apple, Fitbit and Microsoft could do better too. MORE products please.

Because Garmin watches in general are so feature-rich most of their owners forgive the bugginess. Garmin STILL get away with that despite at least one competitor (in my opinion) targeting Garmin forums with spoof product bug/faults/complaints. Perhaps focussing on the positives of product development and marketing would be a dollar better spent? Just a thought.